ABSTRACT
What You Need to Know
■ Throughout most of history, youthful offenders were handled under the same laws and system as adults.
■ The early institutions for handling juveniles (houses of refuge and reformatories) emerged in the 1800s as an outgrowth of concern over poverty and the need to train youths to be productive members of society.
■ The first recognized juvenile court was in Cook County, Illinois, in 1899, with a focus on helping youths and not punishment.
■ Parens patriae became the philosophical basis for the new juvenile court, with a focus on handling youths as parents would handle their children.
■ The early court cases of Ex parte Crouse and Commonwealth v. Fisher affirmed the right of the state to intervene in a child’s life even if the parents objected.
■ Platt and others argue that the juvenile court was not developed solely out of the benevolent intentions of those involved; rather, it was developed as a tool of capitalism to ensure a complacent work force.
■ Today, juvenile courts operate under a number of different rationales besides parens patriae, including punishment, deterrence, child welfare, restorative justice, and rehabilitation.
